Analysis of the Persian Persuader’s Health Regen

If I’m not using the Ullapool Caber or Pain Train, I’m using the Persian Persuader. Health regen is a great thing to have on the Demoman, and the Sticky Jumper synergies surprisingly well with the Persian because it doubles the health return you get from ammo. (I’ve mentionedthis before). But I never really understood why.

Finally, I got around to doing some testing to figure it out, and I learned that the Persian derives its health return from the amount of primary and secondary ammo on the wearer. (For these purposes, the Booties are considered a stock grenade launcher and the shields are considered a stock Stickybomb launcher.) A user named “Annoyed grunt” summed it up in a way too mathy for me but good to know:

Total Healing % = Ammo Pack % (~0.233+Extra Ammo %*0.00136)

So basically, the more reserve ammo, the more health return. The Sticky Jumper famously has 200% extra reserve ammunition, so that’s why it returns so much more health. The Scottish Resistance also has +50% reserve ammo, so it gives back a little more than the stock launcher does. All of the grenade launchers have the same reserve size, so it’s impossible to adjust your health return through your primary in regular TF2. But the health return can also be boosted by upgrading your grenade and stickybomb reserve ammo in Mann Vs. Machine.

Fire can be a bit of a problem for a high-explosive low-speed class like the Demoman, so the tripled amount of extinguishing health packs is a godsend. Picture by Gen. DeGroot.

It seems so simple at first: All ammo collected becomes health. But when you really want to look under the cover, like most weapons the Persian Persuader has more to it than originally meets the eye. One day I might actually use it with a shield, i.e. its intended purpose.